1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to WWAN (Wireless Wide Area Network) communication devices and corresponding methods and integrated circuit chips, and in particular to patch installation in such WWAN communication devices.
2. Description of the Related Art
Wireless networks are flexible data communications systems using wireless media such as radio frequency or infrared technology to transmit and receive data over the air, thereby minimizing the need for wired connections. Thus, wireless networks combine data connectivity with user mobility.
Wireless systems can be configured in a variety of topologies to meet the needs of specific applications and installations. Configurations can easily be changed and range from peer to peer networks suitable for a small number of users to large infrastructure networks that enable roaming over a broad area.
Wireless wide area networks (WWAN) use radio, satellite or mobile phone systems to access data and information from any location in the range of a cell tower connected to a data enabled network. Using the mobile phone as a modem, a mobile computing device, such as a notebook computer, PDA (Personal Digital Assistant) or a device with a stand-alone radio card can receive and send information from a network, e.g., corporate intranet or the Internet. Thus, WWAN networks have the potential to extend the reach of applications or data to virtually the entire earth's surface.
However, this expanded range also increases the vulnerability of WWAN networks.
As WWAN communications devices themselves are complex systems and are deployed to a quickly moving market, they are usually provided with software updates while being in the field. These updates, also referred to as patches, can contain feature additions as well as security fixes for closing security holes. In this way, malicious use of WWAN communication devices or the dissemination of worms across WWAN systems can be prevented.
However, an attacker could still remove such security related functionality. An attacker could even entirely block the loading of patches in a WWAN communication device. For instance, the attacker could record the signals at a regular power up of the WWAN communication device and detect how the “patch end” signaling is done. Then, this signal could be sent to the WWAN communication device at the beginning of a later power up processing which would prevent patching. Furthermore, malicious software even could block loading patches.
Further, many prior art WWAN communication devices suffer from the problem of getting more and more insecure while being in the market. Such systems are exposed to an increased risk of malicious modification. A virus or worm could cause effective attacks. For example, a denial of service attack could be carried out against a WWAN network whereby only one infected active device per radio cell suffices to block the whole system. A virus could also destroy an infected WWAN communication device.